6. 霍華德?舒爾茨

公司名稱：星巴克

銷售額：117億美元

市值：400億美元

員工人數：149,000

建議：不斷挑戰傳統。

????這次經濟衰退最困難的時期，很多分析師和媒體專家都認為星巴克（Starbucks）成了消費習慣改變的犧牲品。闊別星巴克八年后、2008年初再次出任首席執行官的霍華德?舒爾茨對此卻并不認同。

????舒爾茨重返星巴克的時候，公司的利潤和營收都在下降。股價跌得非常厲害，以至于他都擔心公司可能會被收購。當時，星巴克早已是一個超越自有消費人群的品牌。舒爾茨的做法是企業創始人很少會做，但所有偉大的企業家常常要做的：他給星巴克帶來了財務紀律、盈利效率以及返璞歸真。

????增長和成功掩蓋了很多錯誤，導致了巨大的浪費。例如，這家全球最大的印度茶拿鐵供應商當時每年光是將多出來的蒸牛奶倒入下水道這一項就要浪費幾千萬美元。在牛奶壺內放一個鋸齒狀內環，幫助調咖啡者掌握一杯拿鐵應使用多少牛奶，星巴克就省下了幾百萬美元?！罢l也不會覺得一個牛奶壺有啥稀奇，”舒爾茨說。“但在星巴克，它非常重要?！?/p>

????正如史蒂夫?喬布斯之于蘋果公司，霍華德?舒爾茨的二度出山拯救了星巴克，使它拜托了流于平庸的命運。而且，重振這個標志性品牌的同時，58歲的舒爾茨也做到了大多數創始人都難以做到的事情：挑戰傳統。

6. Howard Schultz

Company: Starbucks

Sales: $11.7 billion

Market Value: $40 billion

Employees: 149,000

Advice: Always challenge the old ways.

????In the darkest days of the Great Recession, many analysts and media pundits had written off Starbucks as an overreaching victim of changing consumer habits. Howard Schultz, who regained his job as CEO in early 2008 after an eight-year hiatus, would have none of it.

????When he returned, Starbucks' profits and revenues were tanking. The stock price had fallen so severely that at one point he feared the company could be taken over. Starbucks had become a brand that had been stretched beyond its demography. But Schultz did what few builders of companies are known to do -- but what all of the greatest entrepreneurs always do: He brought financial discipline, bottom-line efficiency, and a back-to-basics focus to the company.

????Growth and success had covered up a lot of mistakes and led to a tremendous amount of waste. The world's dominant purveyor of chai lattes, for example, had been losing tens of millions of dollars a year by pouring excess steamed milk down the drain. By simply putting a serrated internal ring inside a pitcher to guide how much milk a barista should use for a latte, Starbucks saved millions. "You wouldn't think a steaming pitcher could be sexy," says Schultz. "But it became very sexy at Starbucks."

????As with Steve Jobs at Apple, the second coming of Howard Schultz saved Starbucks from being just another also-ran. And in turning around an iconic brand, Schultz, now 58, demonstrated that he could do what most founders are said not to do: challenge the old way of doing things.